Place value to millions
Year 5 reads numbers to 1,000,000; Year 6 to 10,000,000. Each digit's column is 10× the column to its right.
Place value runs through every KS2 number topic. By Year 6 children read seven-digit numbers fluently: 3,256,841 = three million, two hundred and fifty-six thousand, eight hundred and forty-one.
Worked examples
3,256,841 = 3M + 256,000 + 800 + 40 + 1.
The 5 in 3,256,841 is worth 50,000. Same digit, different column = different value.
Comparing: 1,234,567 < 1,243,000. Compare digits left to right; first difference wins.
Frequently asked questions
Why use commas?
UK convention: every three digits from the right. Helps reading: 1,234,567 reads as ‘1 million, 234 thousand, 567’.
Spaces or commas?
Both seen in UK textbooks. Year 6 SATs use commas. Pure mathematical notation increasingly uses thin spaces (1 234 567).